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Reporting from Washington - In a crackdown on dubious claims on food packages, the Food and Drug Administration has sent warning letters to 17 producers for making what it said were misleading statements about nutrition and health benefits.

The agency also issued an industrywide challenge to upgrade the quality of nutrition labeling.

The warning letters apply to 22 products and challenge labeling language on such issues as fat content, nutrient standards and the purported ability of a particular food to prevent medical problems.

The clampdown was hailed as "a once in a generation event" by the Center for Science in the Public Interest. The nonprofit advocacy group recently released a report documenting purported labeling abuses, including several that earned FDA warning letters.

By coming down on mislabeling, the FDA is demonstrating that the food label is "an essential weapon in the toolbox in the fight against obesity and other diseases," said Bruce Silverglade, CSPI's director of legal affairs and a coauthor of the report.

Among the targets of the FDA action was a label for Mrs. Smith's Coconut Custard Pie, produced by Schwan's Consumer Brands North America of Bloomington, Minn. It advertised that the pie contained no trans fat, but did not disclose that it contained significant levels of saturated fat and total fat.

Similarly, Diamond Food of Stockton was cited for making claims that its shelled walnuts warded off maladies such as arthritis, cancer and heart disease. Foods generally are not permitted to make disease-fighting claims.

In addition to warning letters, FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg released a "Dear Industry" letter in which she invited food producers to collaborate on improving nutrition information, particularly on the front of food labels, where consumers are most likely to see it.

But Hamburg also warned food companies to toe the regulatory line, noting that "we continue to see products marketed with labeling that violates established labeling standards." Companies that receive warning letters have 15 days to inform the agency of corrective action.

In a statement on its corporate website, Diamond Food said: "We expect to be able to make any changes required to our packaging and website expeditiously and with minimal expense."

Center for Science in the Public Interest - is neither a center for science nor is really concerned with the public interest.

Yeah, the same PETA-related 'tards who think that eating Chinese takeout will kill you.

I still don't pay a lot of attention to food labels, though. Most of my food is unlabeled but if I'm going to eat candy or chips, I already know that they can't cure cancer and would make me fat if I ate them all day long.

I seriously don't care fat content. Saturated fat isn't poisonous and most of your brain is cholesterol (not from what people eat, either). I never have a guilty moment cooking with lard. Food Fear is for people who never had biochemistry. :D

Yeah, the same PETA-related 'tards who think that eating Chinese takeout will kill you.

I still don't pay a lot of attention to food labels, though. Most of my food is unlabeled but if I'm going to eat candy or chips, I already know that they can't cure cancer and would make me fat if I ate them all day long.

I seriously don't care fat content. Saturated fat isn't poisonous and most of your brain is cholesterol (not from what people eat, either). I never have a guilty moment cooking with lard. Food Fear is for people who never had biochemistry. :D

I pay attention if it's a product I've never bought before, otherwise, no. I'd probably never buy Jif Peanut Butter again if I knew everything that was in it.

There have been so many news stories about how misleading the labels can be on foods that the manufacturers are trying to market as healthy, it's hard to believe that most consumers aren't already aware that just because a product says it's "low fat" doesn't mean that it truly is low fat.

I pay attention if it's a product I've never bought before, otherwise, no. I'd probably never buy Jif Peanut Butter again if I knew everything that was in it.

There have been so many news stories about how misleading the labels can be on foods that the manufacturers are trying to market as healthy, it's hard to believe that most consumers aren't already aware that just because a product says it's "low fat" doesn't mean that it truly is low fat.

And aren't aware of the corollary: in processed foods "low fat" usually means that fats were replaced by starches and/or sugars and so certainly aren't also "low calorie". ;)